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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23636344">The Heart Grows Fonder</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/utsushiame/pseuds/utsushiame'>utsushiame</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Drabble, During Canon, F/M, Feelings Realization, POV Multiple, Rated for swearing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 19:48:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>460</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23636344</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/utsushiame/pseuds/utsushiame</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been two days since they last talked face-to-face, twice as long as they've even known each other.</p>
<p>In an apocalypse, however, the heart isn't so focused on trivial matters like 'time'.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Carlos Oliveira/Jill Valentine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>73</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Heart Grows Fonder</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Jill, is that you?!"</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was a stupid question. Who else could be brought to the brink of death and then be back on her feet not two days later? Who else could be dying of infection one moment, and then the next be armed to the teeth and fighting the unkillable creature that had tried to put her down?</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The bastard had been designed to be the perfect soldier, single-minded in its pursuit and indestructible in its form, but it still didn't have shit on Jill Valentine.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It'd been stupid, too, for Carlos to worry that she might not pull through. About as apt as thinking that the sun would never again pass the horizon. Jill wasn't a force of nature, but seeing her there in the pit, bloodied and bruised and <em>snarling</em> as she unloaded rounds into the beast, she might as well have been.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She made an idiot out of him, and he couldn't be happier about it.</span>
</p><hr/>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Carlos?!"</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It'd been hard not to assume the worst. Only forty or so hours had passed, but with one monstrosity after the other crawling out the woodwork, it felt dreadfully inevitable that any meeting with an ally may be their last.</span>
</p>
<p class="p2">God, an "ally". It would've been so much easier not to care about him. So much more sensible. A philandering stooge for Umbrella, everything Jill should've hated, and yet nothing like that at all. Maybe Nikolai hadn't been completely wrong when accusing her of having a heart that bled too readily.</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(That didn't mean he wasn't still deserving of a beating or five.)</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">But there was the proof. A man she'd only known for a day, urgency entrenching their every encounter, and yet still it brought her warmth to know that he was alive. It was foolish to care so deeply for someone she had known for so short a time, but honestly? Jill didn't give a fuck.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Who ever said a bleeding heart had to be a bad thing?</span>
</p><hr/>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You're OK!"</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">An odd choice of words, maybe, given that she was staring down the mutilated jaw of death- and yet, he was right. Her every muscle creaked with pain, her body begging for release, but nevertheless Jill was okay. Alive. She had Carlos to thank for that.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Carlos knew well the value of teamwork; that having a partner at your side was more valuable than a weapon could ever be. A gun couldn't have your back where it counted- couldn't cover your weaknesses with its strengths. Not like Jill could.</span>
</p>
<p class="p2">Strange, how two days apart had brought them closer together than ever. Than they had any right to be. Not that either of them were complaining.</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They were stupid, and tender-hearted, and all the stronger for it.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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